


at the breath of darkness

by saiditallbefore



Series: Ladies of Marvel Bingo 2019 [2]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fusion, Alternate Universe - Sunless Sea Fusion, F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-26
Updated: 2020-04-26
Packaged: 2021-03-01 23:59:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,340
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23705746
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/saiditallbefore/pseuds/saiditallbefore
Summary: It seemed that few people wished to work for a mad ex-professor, and even fewer wished to seek out what lay beyond the edge of the known world.Her new gunnery officer, though, seemed to have no such compunctions.Jane and Valkyrie, on the Unterzee.
Relationships: Brunnhilde | Valkyrie/Jane Foster
Series: Ladies of Marvel Bingo 2019 [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1539871
Comments: 2
Kudos: 10
Collections: Ladies of Marvel Bingo 2019, What Fen Do (Instead of Going Outside)





	at the breath of darkness

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Snickfic](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Snickfic/gifts).



> Title comes from "Dust" by Florence Ripley Mastin.

Ever since Jane had resigned from her post at the University as a professor of natural philosophy and announced her intention to cross the Unterzee and seek what lay beyond the Eastern edge of their maps, she’d been regarded as quite mad. Mad even by the standards of Fallen London, where even the most polite circles of society had a certain tolerance for _unusual_ behavior.

She had little regard for her reputation, but it did make hiring a crew for her recently purchased, thirdhand ship rather difficult. It seemed that few people wished to work for a mad ex-professor, and even fewer wished to seek out what lay beyond the edge of the known world.

Her new gunnery officer, though, seemed to have no such compunctions. Valkyrie— an odd name, but the woman had given no other— had only requested that Jane keep the ship stocked with alcohol. Given that Valkyrie had punctuated her request by swigging from a flask she’d hidden somewhere in the folds of her top, Jane felt it best to accommodate her.

* * *

They put in for provisions at Port Cecil, and after the ship had been fully restocked, Jane took the opportunity to explore the coral knoll nearby. It would be a shame to leave without taking the opportunity to observe it.

Valkyrie followed her. As usual, Valkyrie had her sword strapped to her back, though she also had a perfectly serviceable pistol at her hip.

“I need to stretch my legs,” she said. “Get off that damn ship for a while.”

Jane didn’t take her complaints to heart; Valkyrie said something similar at every port— unless they’d found one civilized enough to have a gambling den.

They walked in companionable silence for a long while, pausing every so often for Jane to scribble notes and sketches into one of the notebooks she kept in her ever-present knapsack. It was during one of these interludes that Jane first noticed: the zee-bats, always present, had gone quiet. Jane looked around— surviving at zee had sharpened her survival instincts. Beside her, Valkyrie gripped her sword with one hand, ready to unsheath it.

“In the shadows,” Jane murmured. Quickly, she realized it was a spectacularly unhelpful comment; creeping shadows were all around them, particularly dark and menacing when set against the sourceless silver glow of the islands. But Valkyrie followed her line of sight, and saw what Jane had: a stirring in the shadows, a movement from something darker than the darkness.

Jane stepped back, trying to keep an eye on the _thing_ in the shadows. If she and Valkyrie could just make it back to the ship, they could put clear black water between themselves and the predator. But as they moved toward the port, the creature mirrored them, always keeping so far in the darkness that Jane couldn’t get a clear glimpse of it.

Finally, Valkyrie seemed to have had enough. In one motion, she unsheathed her sword.

“Valkyrie—” Jane began.

“I’ve got this, Captain.” Valkyrie strode forward, sword gleaming in the dim light.

That was the opposite of reassuring; her gunnery officer was rarely formal enough to use her title unless the situation was dire. Jane scrambled for the pistol she’d begun keeping on her person after an unfortunate encounter at Hunter’s Keep. It only had two shots, but perhaps that would be enough.

A shape emerged from the darkness. Jane raised her pistol, thankful that she’d trained herself to have steady hands. A shaky hand could be just as disastrous in a dissection as in a gunfight, after all.

She lowered it quickly, though, when she realized it was Valkyrie, dragging something behind her.

Jane rushed forward. Valkyrie seemed unhurt, though Jane still gave her a quick visual examination. Valkyrie looked as hale and as handsome as ever, so Jane turned her attention to the creature. Its flesh was already beginning to dissolve in the light, but she flipped to a new page in her notebook, ready to sketch what she could.

It was tricky to capture the creature on the page, though— it had a great number of eyeballs, all bunched together on its face and altogether too many limbs, leathery and angular and folding every which way, with razor-sharp claws on the ends. 

Finally, Jane tucked her notebook away. Valkyrie had moved away from the creature’s corpse, probably objecting to the smell, and was sitting on an offshoot of coral.

“We should get back to the ship,” Jane said.

Valkyrie took a final swig from her flask, then stood. “Whenever you’re ready.”

They’d only taken a few steps before Valkyrie spoke again.

“Were you really going to go after that thing with your peashooter?” Valkyrie raised an eyebrow.

“If necessary,” Jane said. 

Valkyrie snorted, shaking her head— whether in contempt or admiration, Jane was unsure, and didn’t want to ask.

They were about to approach the gangplank when Jane took Valkyrie by the forearm. She wasn’t as strong as the other woman— before this, she hadn’t realized that forearms could have muscles quite like that— but Valkyrie still paused, turning to look at her. Jane met her eyes. As always, they were dark and watchful, set off by the white lines she painted across them.

“Thank you,” Jane said, quite seriously. Then, though it hurt her pride to admit it— “I don’t think I could have handled that on my own.”

For a moment, Jane thought Valkyrie was going to respond in kind. Something in her eyes, or her stance— she seemed warmer than she had when they’d first met in London, all those months ago.

But Valkyrie shrugged a shoulder, pulling away from Jane at the same time. “I’d be pretty shit at my job if I let the captain die.”

Jane wanted to point out that it wasn’t _exactly_ the gunnery officer’s job to kill strange creatures of the Neath with a sword. But before she could, Valkyrie turned back toward the ship, walking away.

* * *

Jane stood on deck, staring into the east. The mists that often gathered around the Empire of Hands had cleared for once, but past the nearest island in the Empire, there was nothing to be seen save for darkness and the empty, open Unterzee. From here, they would be zailing into the unknown.

There were no shops at Port Stanton— at least, none which were open to Londoners— but they had been allowed to refuel one last time. Jane had considered exploring the port, but the hungry gazes of the Pentecost apes who populated the islands had given her pause. 

Valkyrie joined her at the railing, leaning on it heavily. “View’s better in the other direction,” she said.

Jane smiled ruefully. Valkyrie was right: the sight of the zeppelin rising above the jungle was awe-inspiring, if also a bit worrying. “Having second thoughts already?” 

“Why, trying to get rid of me?” For once, Valkyrie sounded almost earnest. 

“Never!” Jane exclaimed. If Valkyrie wanted to depart, Jane wouldn’t stop her, but she would miss the other woman’s company. And of course, she’d be hard-pressed to find another decent gunnery officer at this juncture.

But just like Jane, Valkyrie seemed to thrive on the open zee— even if it was dark and empty and full of unspeakable horrors. 

“I could never replace you,” Jane said again, pressing one of Valkyrie’s hands between both of hers. For a moment, she was certain that Valkyrie would flee, as she normally did whenever conversations became too earnest.

Instead, Valkyrie pulled her closer. Jane looked into her eyes, and the moment seemed to stretch out into forever. Then, Valkyrie’s lips crashed into hers, and they were kissing in the glimlight. 

Finally, they broke apart. Jane ducked her head, and tried to fan some of the heat from her cheeks.

There was silence for a moment— or as much silence as there ever was at zee, where the noise waves and zee-bats and rigging was ever-present. Then, Valkyrie smirked.

“Zailing with you is never going to be boring, is it?”

Jane simply laughed. 


End file.
